Michigan vs Ohio State Prediction 1/23/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines meet Friday in college basketball action from Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Here’s a Michigan vs Ohio State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Michigan vs Ohio State pick.

Ohio State Buckeyes Betting Preview

Ohio State got off to a great start this year at 6-0 through their first half-dozen games. A rocky 2-3 stretch with losses to Pitt, Illinois and North Carolina came next though, then a 4-2 run that featured wins over Grambling, Rutgers, Oregon and UCLA alongside losses to Nebraska and Washington in there. Across their first 17 games of the year that would leave the Buckeyes with a 12-5 overall record in the books.

In their Tuesday game versus Minnesota, the Buckeyes were in the locker room hanging on to a 31-28 edge. Ohio State was outscored 39-36 in the second half however, and had to go to overtime in order to settle an 82-74 home victory. John Mobley was the leading scorer on the team with 26 points, three rebounds and two assists. Bruce Thornton put up 23 points with seven rebounds and three assists for the Buckeyes in the winning effort.

Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview

Over on the Michigan side, they won their first 14 games of the year over Oakland, Wake Forest, TCU, Middle Tennessee, San Diego State, Auburn, Gonzaga, Rutgers, Villanova, Maryland, La Salle, McNeese, USC and Penn State before losing to Wisconsin on January 10. After wins over Washington and Oregon, the Wolverines were sitting at 16-1 overall through their first 17 outings.

Matched up against Indiana for game 18 on Tuesday the Wolverines got out to a good-sized lead by the end of the first half, taking a 40-29 edge. Michigan got through the second half with a 46-43 advantage and took the win at home in the end 86-72. Elliot Cadeau was the team’s lead scorer with 19 points and four rebounds, while Yale Lendeborg had 15 points with seven boards and four assists. Aday Mara added 13 points and seven rebounds as well.

Why the Michigan Wolverines will win

• Michigan has won each of its last 16 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Ohio State has lost each of its last four games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Michigan has won the first half in each of its last 16 games as a top-10 AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at Crisler Center.

Why the Ohio State Buckeyes will win

• Ohio State has won each of its last five road night games against Conference opponents.
• Ohio State has won the first half in each of its last four games.

Michigan vs Ohio State Prediction

I’ll lean toward Michigan. The Wolverines were able to stay in front of a pretty decent Indiana team on Tuesday, shooting a nice 50.9 percent from the field with 40 percent (10-of-25) from outside and a 40-22 rebounding advantage. Michigan outpaced the Hoosiers on points in the paint 32-22 as well, but the Wolverines did cough up 13 turnovers along the way. That makes three straight wins for Michigan, with 81 or more points in each of those. The Wolverines have scored 74 or more points in all but one game this season, in fact.

As for Ohio State, they had a little trouble shaking off a pesky Minnesota team on Tuesday. The Buckeyes had a dominant edge 46-26 in the paint had a 37-30 rebounding advantage with 47.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Gophers held in there with a nice performance at the line, though (20-of-25 for 80 percent). That makes consecutive wins for the Buckeyes, and three victories in the last four. They’ve scored 72 or more points in all four of those outings, and they’ll need another big total here.